Goddesses

  • Imbolc Celebration – My First Time

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    I don’t know if it is the fact that I am older or the fact that I am really working on grounding and becoming more connected to the Earth, but I FEEL the changes and intuit the meanings behind the holidays that are celebrated in the Pagan community.

    For example, this year I allowed myself to somewhat hibernate during the winter. I didn’t have the same expectations for myself to always be doing and creating and moving forward. I took the time to just rest (mostly, if an entrepreneur anyone with 3 kids and a dog can really rest).

    It helped, too – at least it seemed to! I actually enjoyed going out with my boys in the cold. I dragged them around on their sleds and had a blast with them, watching them WHOOSH down the little hill at the edge of our village.

    And I don’t know if it was my plans for a trip to Florida that made this winter somewhat tolerable for me. I have some sunshine to look forward to – warm days and beaches. That might have helped to buoy my mood.

    Either way, I’ve felt a stirring in the last few days – a sense that I wanted to start DOing again. That I was done with BEing and with the rest. It was like I was ready to wake up after my winter slumber.

    Then I read about Imbolc, which is today! Imbolc is a Gaelic/Celtic holiday dedicated to the Goddess Brigid and the return of the Sun. It’s midpoint in the Winter, which means that warm weather is on its way. (Read more about it here: Imbolc) It’s when the seeds start feeling a little bit like rousing from their slumber deep in the Earth. When the plants and trees start to get buds, when the tulips and schneeglocken start to blossom.

    Basically put, Imbolc is “It is the day that we celebrate the passing of Winter and make way for Spring.” Gods and Goddesses know that I am ready for that!

    As my practice and connection to the Earth is growing now, I am going to celebrate this holiday in a traditional way. I’ll get a red candle, a white candle, and an orange candle. I’ll adorn my altar in the appropriate colors (red, white, orange), and also put some white flowers out. I’ll use cinnamon and frankincense (rosemary and myrrh are also mentioned in the article and can be used), and I will get some freshly fallen snow to use in my ritual. I’ll give thanks for feeling good over this winter. I’ll give thanks for the freshly fallen snow, for the opportunity to rest and enjoy the winter with my children. I’ll ask for blessings of fertility and abundance in the coming year. I’ll thank the Gods and Goddesses for all that has been and all that will be. And I will deepen my bond with the energy of the Earth, the seasons, the Wheel of the Year.

    Blessed be.

    Sue Ellis-Saller

     

     

    Do you celebrate Imbolc? Feel free to share any rituals or even blog posts that you have written or read about the subject in the comments below!

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  • FREE Monthly Tarot Reading

    Cards from the Mary-el Tarot, Goddess Guidance, and Petit Lenormand decks.
    Cards from the Mary-el Tarot, Goddess Guidance, and Petit Lenormand decks.


    FREE Tarot, Lenormand and Goddess Guidance Reading for March, 2016

    The central theme for March is all about releasing what no longer serves you so that you can start working to manifest your true desires. When you are honest with yourself about your vision, you can clearly see what needs to go.

    This could be in relation to your career or financial growth. The King of Disks is often perceived as a card pointing to material success (or an extremely successful person). And your success may lie in artistic expressions or expressions of your art (for us witches).

    And the Ten of Cups- the one that keeps coming up for me – urging me to pay more attention to my family because Times like these won’t be here forever and I am teaching my children about success, balance, and family life. That High Priestess, Dana, is really emphasizing, to me, that I teach through my actions- and those teaching touch my family and the community that I interact with.

    The Lenormand reading totally mirrors the tarot reading and goddess card reading- with the Scythe in the middle of the reading – on the one hand, indicating that you can overcome and also that you can chop away at what you don’t need in life. When combined with the Sun and the Moon, the Scythe is a much better omen than it would be if it were surrounded by more negative cards.

    WOW! This was a fabulous reading!

    In short, by shedding the things that don’t serve your career, you’ll have more time to focus on the things that truly matter in life.

    Would you like to know what to expect for yourself in March? Order a personalized MARCH reading for $15 (like the one above – 3 rows of 3 cards from 3 decks).

    It’s the 3/3/3 special. Available until March 9th, 2016!

    Email sue@sueellissaller.com to order yours!

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  • Honoring YOUR Inner Goddess!

    One of the things that we must do is to honor ourselves as if we were Gods or Goddesses.

    Think about that statement for a second…what does that mean to you? Would you treat yourself differently if you were 100% sure that YOU were a Goddess or a God? If so, what things might you do differently?

    Examine your life: who you hang out with, what you eat, how you move/exercise, how you allow others to treat/talk about you…how you treat and talk about yourself… Are you treating yourself with dignity and helping your best incarnation to thrive in this world, or do you need to make some changes that would better celebrate the Goddess you are?

    Goddess

    What do those changes look like?

    What not start treating yourself like the heavenly being you are today? Here are a few things you can do to recognize the Goddess within YOU!

    1) Treat yourself as a divinely inspired creature who was created with love. Bottom line is that this is true! You ARE a divinely inspired creature and you were created with the love of the Universe. Don’t ever forget that!

    2) Take good care of yourself. Eat healthily – not too little and not too much. Make sure that the foods you eat are what you would serve to a God or Goddess. Bless your food before you consume it. Know that what you eat fuels your power. Make sure that you are moving and exercising – it will help you feel your absolute best and look heavenly!

    3) Surround yourself with those who worship (or at least love) you! What Goddess would surround herself with those who failed to see how magnificent and special she was!? Would a God stand to be put down or criticized all of the time? Find people who not only treat you well, but also who see you as the God or Goddess you ARE!

    4) Honor yourself! Goddesses don’t talk about their fat thighs and their stupidity – they see no reason to speak poorly of their marvelous forms. Gods know how powerful they are, so they do not speak of weaknesses or faults. Be inspired by the Gods and Goddesses. Speak only good things about yourself.

    5) Be known for your gifts! Are you smart, strong, funny? Is your intuition top notch? Do you grow a garden like it’s no-one’s business? Embrace your gifts and be known for them – just like all of the other Gods and Goddesses do!

    If you need some help with planning out the changes you need to feel more like a Goddess or a God, feel free to email sueellissaller@gmail.com

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  • Drawn to the Goddesses

    I’ve been needing some sisterly love and best girlfriend kind of support and advice – where better to go for that than to the Goddesses! Like the angels, the goddesses are there to help us work through our hard times and issues…and also to help celebrate successes and victories! Goddesses help us harness our feminine power and use our feminine attributes to our advantage (we are not just talking about T&A here!).

    Think about all those characteristics that are usually associated with women – kindness, warmth, intuition, working with children lovingly, wisdom, patience, compassion, sensitivity – these are the traits that the goddesses help to bring into your life or out of you!

    My first goddess encounter this week was a very random, very intense visit from Kuan Yin. I was stretching out from my run and felt the sudden, urgent need to sit down and meditate – not only that, but I also felt like Kuan Yin was there and she was the one who was inviting me to meditate.

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    Some legends have Kuan Yin reaching out to those who are suffering in life, and others liken her to the Virgin Mary – a mother figure who is concerned with mercy and protection. It is said that she hears our prayers and helps us to find answers for them.

    So you can imagine the happiness and awe that I felt in my heart by feeling invited by such a deity to have a quiet moment of connection. My breath slowed and I focused on it and the images that were coming to mind as I took this moment of silent reflection and prayer.

    I know that I need to be more compassionate toward the people in my life – especially toward myself. That is one of the messages that Kuan Yin might have been sending me.

    During the intensity of the few minutes, I also saw the head of Buddha, which got me to thinking about enlightenment.

    As quickly as the meditation session started, it ended, and I went on my way with a head full of wonder about the meditation that had just taken place. Random and spontaneous invitations to meditate are – to me – quite the experience and something to note for future reference.

    That experience, plus a couple of other things that are going on in my life right now – namely being fully overwhelmed by the energy and vivaciousness of two growing boys and doing all of the work by myself quite often because of my husband’s work schedule, and being in a place where I want to expand my esoteric knowledge and trust my intuition more fully – have me in a place where I really do need to call on the goddesses for their love, support, and guidance…

    and also to nurture the goddess in myself so that I can face my own trials and life with the very traits that these women embody. 

    What better way to honor the goddesses than to work with them in more detail this week. I am starting with this Goddess Reading for you all. It is a spread that I did just for you all with the question, “What advice do my readers need this week?”

    Goddess Spread Sept 28
    Goddess Spread Sept 28

    First, we have the Green Tara who encourages us to ask for help in all of our day-to-day tasks. Many of us are willing to take on the lion’s share of work, responsibility, child-care, household work… Nurturing, caring, supporting – to the point of exhaustion, frustration and resentment. Even though it can be hard, we should reach out to our friends and especially our family members (husbands and children) to help with the work that needs to be done. We will feel much better if we honor ourselves and our families by sharing the burden so that we are not overloaded and angry.

    Pele comes next (you know how I love Pele!) – she is here to remind us about the importance of our goals, dreams, passions and desires as well. Again, women (especially) are building others in their lives up, putting their dreams on hold so that others can achieve theirs – and denying our passions and desires to fit into the role of “mother and wife.” Pele urges us to find our inner fire and be honest with ourselves and those around us about what we want. We have to take the time out to pursue what burns in our souls so that we can spread that passion throughout our lives.

    And then we have Hathor and such a very important message from her: BE OPEN TO RECEIVING. So many of us give, give, give – and some of us feel awkward when we are given anything. Honoring the sacred feminine within ourselves includes being open to receiving. There is a flow in give/receive. It is balanced. So, make sure that you open yourself up to receiving.

    One great point Doreen Virtue makes in describing Hathor in the Goddess Guidance Oracle deck book is,

    When you receive, you have more resources to give to others.

    So receiving is not a bad or greedy thing, it is a part of the divine flow.

    I will be doing some more work with the goddesses this week on my Facebook page. Feel free to join in over there!

    With respect and light ~ Susan

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